breezer1 wrote:Here is my new ride! not bad for a $300 gumtree special! 2002 Giant TCR Aero TT Road BikeFull shimano 105The only thing i have done to it is put my mavic classic pro wheels and gatorskins on it

Whilst we're on the topic of De Rosa... here's my Merak Evolution 2013!

Probably not the greatest photo I could have done but gives you an idea.

Unreal bike. Logged probably just under 1000kms on it in 4 weeks give or take and have to say it just does everything so well. Fast and ultra stiff whilst being comfortable to sit in the saddle for 4+ hours. Not to mention the fact that it descends like crazy and steers like its on rails. I'm sure it does things much like most other higher end frames.

Subjective opinion all the same but very happy with it so far.

Also like the fact that you don't see too many on the roads although that has never been a motivating factor for me. Just gotta decide whether I want to move from Dura-Ace pedals over to Speedplay. Not a necessity but wondering if it might be better.

I had a look at De Rosa's site and while it looks pretty it (along with many other cycling sites) make no attempt to segment their bikes or frames into particular styles or uses. For example which frame would I choose for a more relaxing ride? They all assume you have intimate knowledge of their geometry and understand it.

stinhambo wrote:I had a look at De Rosa's site and while it looks pretty it (along with many other cycling sites) make no attempt to segment their bikes or frames into particular styles or uses. For example which frame would I choose for a more relaxing ride? They all assume you have intimate knowledge of their geometry and understand it.

Yeah... unlike some of their other Italian counterparts (Pinarello, Colnago,etc) I believe De Rosa are still effectively a small family owned operation and it is reflected I believe in their entire operation (marketing, etc).

Its undeniable that they have cycling pedigree and have in the past been affiliated with some of the sport's greats (Eddie Merckx etc) but I think they definitely lack in many areas.

Can say the bike from my personal subjective opinion would match up against most of the high end offerings out there at the moment and this was confirmed by the people I purchased the bike from whom also offer more commonly known frames.

In any case I totally agree with you. I had the same questions in comparing the King frame to that of the Merak.

A-Style wrote:In any case I totally agree with you. I had the same questions in comparing the King frame to that of the Merak.

So is the Merak a more relaxed bike?

Yes, I think it is.The King is a true race bike.The Merak is such a lovely smooth ride, but still very responsive and a great frame.I have a De Rosa Team (aluminium) and it simply doesn't compare to the Merak for smoothness.De Rosa still make their carbon frames in Italy.They source the carbon tubes and build locally.Worst thing about De Rosa is the paint quality. Simply doesn't compare to Colnago quality.

Have to agree with A-Style, you just don't see many of them on the road and I love that.

A-Style I think the speedplays are great pedals.No flipping the pedal to get in.Though:a) they take a while to set up correctlyb) the cleats wear quickly when walking so get the rubber cafe coversc) the cleats need tightening every now and thend) the cleats are quite tallThey are great for climbing, never had any issues with clip out or anything like that.

A-Style wrote:In any case I totally agree with you. I had the same questions in comparing the King frame to that of the Merak.

So is the Merak a more relaxed bike?

To use this example it was explained to me the Merak is the effectively the De Rosa equivalent of the S-Works Tarmac SL4 Pro. The Tarmac obviously does everything that a Venge could do only is more compliant and less harsh.

I believe one of the UCI Pro Teams (Christina Watches) were using the De Rosa Protos and Merak at one stage a year or so back (I think they've since moved onto Colnago although I could be wrong). Again, that makes little difference to me because those pros could ride a Huffy from Big W and still thump me on it.

In any case I echo the sentiments of Kiwi73. The bike is smooth and its noticed most notably in power transfer. You spool up and it goes.

g_dorazio wrote:Yep, definitely swap the dura ace pedals...for anything...shimano pedals on a campag group is akin to pollution.

Lol. I think you might have gone just slightly a little far here. As much as I would never go back to Shimano group sets I think there pedals are great and have served me well and I don't believe they contaminate the sanctity of my Campy groupo. They are absolutely bomb proof and easy to maintain. That's the only thing that seemingly deters me from shifting over to Speedplay the amount of fiddling around and maintenance required. I hear though from current users that have shifted from SPD SLs over to them that you seemingly feel as if you have more contact surface area and hence more power transfer. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

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